Powerball Jackpot Odds: When, Where And How To Play May 15 $350 Million Lottery Drawing [REPORT]

Powerball Jackpot Odds In $350 Million Wednesday, May 15 Lottery Drawing; When, Where And How To Play (Image: Reuters)

The Powerball jackpot is higher than ever. Saturday's Powerball drawing retrieved no winners, so the lottery jackpot has risen to $350 million dollars, establishing it as the third-largest Powerball prize in history and the seventh largest jackpot ever! Saturday's winning numbers were 6-13-19-23-43 with 16 as the Powerball jackpot number.

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Saturday's Powerball jackpot was at $270 million dollars, giving it a cash value of $175.8 million if taken as a lump sum, according to lottery officials. The Powerball jackpot has now swelled to $350 million, which represents a cash value of $444.8 million if taken all at once (instead of a 29-year annuity.)

Jackpot totals are expected to climb in shorter amounts of time, according to lottery officials. This is reportedly due to a game redesign in January 2012 that increased the odds of winning some kind of prize, but also lowered the possible number combinations to win the ultimate Powerball jackpot.

"It usually took a handful of months, if not several months, for a jackpot to reach this large amount," said Mary Neubauer, spokeswoman for the Iowa Lottery. "Now it's achieving that within a handful of weeks. I think the redesign is achieving exactly what we had wanted it to achieve, which is the bigger, faster-growing jackpot." Iowa is one of the founding Powerball states.

Powerball jackpot tickets cost $2. There is a 1 in 175.2 million chance that any ticket will win the grand prize. The overall odds of winning any prize, including a prize of $4 for selecting only the Powerball, are 1 in 31.85, according to Powerball officials.

On March 30, the Powerball jackpot of $50 million dollars was awarded. However, Pedro Quezada was the last major Powerball jackpot winner - the 44-year-old man from New Jersey won $338 million on March 23. That was the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot ever.

Originally from the Dominican Republic, the Powerball jackpot winner told reporters that he was "very happy" and intended to help his family. "I still can't believe it," his wife told the newspaper. "We never expected it, but thank God."

The last major Powerball jackpot to be won before Quezada's March victory was Dave Honeywell's in Virginia. He won a cash lump sum of $217 million dollars in early February 2013. But that wasn't the largest Powerball jackpot in history. In November 2012, a $587.5 million dollar prize was split by one couple in Missouri and another man in Arizona.

Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday night at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time in Florida. Five white balls are drawn from a drum of 59 before one red ball - the Powerball - is selected from a drum of 35 balls.